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Environmentalists urge NJ to implement stronger water pollution rules

Deleware_River-Trenton-Runoff.JPG

The Deleware River in Trenton is shown in this file photo. Eight environmental groups said yesterday it is urging the state to strengthen rules the rules governing runoff from municipal storm sewers, highways and developed sites in the hope of reducing water pollution.
(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

"The ocean is at the receiving end for all polluted runoff entering waterways."

Eight environmental groups said this week they are urging the state to strengthen rules governing runoff from municipal storm sewers, highways and developed sites in the hope of reducing water pollution.

Five-year storm water permits expire at the end of the month, allowing the state Department of Environmental Protection to make changes.

"The department clearly has a responsibly — an obligation — to control non-point source pollution, which is a major, major factor in what’s degrading water quality throughout the state," Helen Henderson, the Atlantic Coast program manager for the American Littoral Society, said. "It’s required by the Clean Water Act, and they’ve been really lax in enforcing and upholding those requirements."

The groups said that sort of pollution happens as rain or melted snow takes its long journey to streams, lakes and the ocean. As it runs, the water can become contaminated by grease, pet waste, fertilizer, pesticides, bacteria, oil and gasoline and any number of other substances, the groups said. It’s the largest source of water pollution in the state.

Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the DEP, confirmed the department received the petition and said the groups would receive a detailed response.

Hajna said the state planned to update the permits by the end of the year.

"The DEP has long recognized the significant impact that storm water runoff has on water quality," he said. "This is especially important in New Jersey because we are so densely populated."

Hajna said the state’s permits are in "full compliance" with the Clean Water Act and that some standards are more specific than what the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection requires.

"This said, we will be working to improve the program," he said. "It is extremely important that we keep working on this issue and build on our accomplishments."

The environmental groups urged the state to include "green infrastructure" as part of the permit requirements. Creating rain gardens, roadside plantings and permeable pavement can help reduce that kind of pollution, they said. Hajna said the state already has embraced a number of those practices, but the environmentalists urged DEP to go further.

"The ocean is at the receiving end for all polluted runoff entering waterways," Cindy Zipf, the executive director of Clean Ocean, said. "It is time to update and strengthen the stormwater rules to ensure that they will improve water quality. Our quality of life, coast, and economy depends on it."